Texas lawmakers hear about border trade's economic impact

Poncho Nevarez, second from right, of the International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of the Texas Legislature spoke at a special hearing in city council chambers in El Paso Friday. With him are from left: Rafael Anchia, Mary Ann Perez and El Paso legislator Joe Moody, far right. (Rudy Gutierrez/El Paso Times)

The U.S.-Mexico border should not be looked at as a point of division, but as a place "where two allies and trading partners join," a regional economic expert told a state committee Friday.

The Texas House International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee had a hearing Friday in El Paso to learn more about the importance of international trade. The committee, headed by state Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, heard testimony from city leaders and border experts about "Opportunities and Innovations in Border Crossings."

Bob Cook, vice president of economic development for the Borderplex Alliance, a binational economic development organization, said the U.S.-Mexico border should be looked at as a single location "where two allies and trading partners join."

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The industrial activity in Juárez is a big part of El Paso's economy, Cook told the committee. More than 50,000 people in El Paso have jobs because of cross-border trade.

Last year, $87.9 billion worth of trade crossed the ports of entry between El Paso and Juárez, an 81 percent increase since 2009. And Texas has almost 200,000 jobs because of exports to Mexico, Cook said.

"I'm grateful that all partners, from federal to state to local, are all on the same page about the need to focus on crossing people and goods through our ports of entry quickly," O'Rourke said.

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On Thursday, Congress passed legislation that would allow the city of El Paso to fund more Customs and Border Protection officers at the ports of entry. The goal is to decrease the waits, to increase trade and shoppers coming into El Paso, and to create more jobs in the community, O'Rourke said.

Mayor John Cook also testified before the committee. He said that trade between the U.S. and Mexico keeps growing and that the aging infrastructure at the ports of entry does not accommodate the 21.6 million people who cross the border every year in El Paso.

He said 14,000 people walk across the Downtown international bridges daily to do business either in Mexico or in the United States.

In addition, there are about 2,500 commercial crossings every day; unfortunately many of those are empty commercial trucks, the mayor said.

At the end of the hearing, Anchía said the testimony is going to form the basis for the committee to make recommendations to the rest of the legislators in Austin. He said two bills are before the committee -- one related to the development of regulations for certain unincorporated areas near the Tornillo Bridge and another to study the border waits at the ports of entry.

"The testimony we received today will be helpful in acting on those pieces of legislation," Anchía said. "We always appreciated the fact that El Paso was an important border crossing, but the testimony today really underlines how important El Paso is not only locally and not only to the state of Texas, but for the country."